Can a clerk "take money" for undisclosed work payments from the bank account of an inquorate PC?

Question

Can a clerk "take money" (clerk's words) for undisclosed payments relating to their unknown work from the bank account of an inquorate PC?

The PC has been inquorate for several years and as a result, local residents were unable to inspect any matter relating to its finances including information concerning the undisclosed payments obtained by the clerk.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thank you

Samuel

Answer 1

Is the clerk under a contract of employment with a salary? If so, they're entitled to be paid, as an inquorate PC lacks the power to amend the contract. I presume that the principal authority is continuing to levy a precept on behalf of the Council, so money will still be coming in. After several years, the principal authority should have stepped in to appoint temporary councillors. Is there really nobody willing to join the Council to get it up and running again? If that's the case, it should be abolished.

Comments

The clerk is receiving their salary in addition to the undisclosed payments. Yes, the principal authority has levied precepts for the last 3 years in the absence of a quorate PC. After the local elections in May, a by election was held in June which was unfruitful and a further by election is to be held next month. I agree, the PC should be abolished. Thanks DtC.

Answer 2

What do the internal and external auditors think about it ?
Who authorised the payments ?

Comments

An inquorate Council can't appoint an internal auditor or approve and submit an AGAR. If the Clerk is contracted, the fact that the payments weren't approved is a lesser offence than non-payment of an employee. This is why the legislation permits a more permanent authority to intervene, but unfortunately, there is no requirement for them to do so.

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You never stop learning, thank you for that Dave

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mmmmm, "lesser offence" you say...

May be a bit of an assumption.
If there PC is inquorate, then what work is the clerk doing?

If nobody knows what work the clerk is doing how can they demonstrate fulfilment of contract obligation which would justify payment?

I wouldn't consider non-payment of an employee to be a particularly heinous 'crime' if there is no council to manage the employee.  Yes, a difficult scenario but if I were a tax payer I'd be wanting to know why someone was paying themself for work which may or may not be happening and I'd suggest the "potential" for a fraud claim would be the greater concern rather than non payment of the employee....

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This is a situation that could only arise in local councils.

From an employment law viewpoint, the Clerk has a valid contract of employment with an entity that still exists and is still receiving income and that employee's specific responsibility as RFO is to manage the employer's finances. If they're doing that, they are fulfilling their obligation. Their failure to perform any other aspect of the role is attributable to the inquoracy; something over which they have no control.

I would hope that the clerk is still paying insurance premiums and commissioning safety inspections and all the other tasks that could have detrimental effects on innocent third parties.

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The external auditors produced their usual public interest reports but as DtC has pointed out, the PC was and remains inquorate. For the same reason, the clerk's payments were not authorised. Thanks Jules.

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"I would hope that the clerk is still paying insurance premiums and commissioning safety inspections and all the other tasks that could have detrimental effects on innocent third parties."

Unfortunately, the clerk is not au fait with their role.

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Oops! Is your local association aware of this?

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Thinking creatively, if there are buildings, public open spaces and children's play equipment under the control of this council, lock them up, fence them off and erect signs saying that they will remain unavailable until the council has sufficient members to manage them. Blame our old friend Elfansafety.

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Probably not DtC.

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All member positions are vacant. As parishioners looking in, we cannot interfere with any property of the PC.

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Then can I ask why, as "parishioners looking in" someone hasn't stepped up to put themselves forward to serve the community, even if only in the short term?  Sorry to sound harsh but unless or until someone is prepared to put themselves forward not sure why you're complaining!

Answer 3

In the context of what you have written the answer is no.

How have you come by this information?  Have you seen the bank statements?

Comments

The information is mentioned within documents provided to a public authority.